"I was at your site for all of two minutes before I bought one of your manuals. I'm impressed!" I love to get emails like this one sent by Vicki from Tucson, Arizona. Marketing my business would be easy if every client bought my products within two minutes of seeing my marketing materials, or signed up for my coaching services after a few minutes on the phone with me.

Do you make most of your sales in 2 to 20 minutes from the time a prospect first reads your marketing copy, visits your web site or calls you?

Neither do I. I make approximately 10% of my sales at the time of first contact, but most prospects take weeks, months and, in some cases, years to become clients.

As I mentioned in my marketing blog, I track sales on the day I send out my marketing newsletter. Typically, orders for my books begin to come in within a couple of hours. Some will be from people who just found my web site and aren't even on my mailing list, others will be from prospects who signed up for my newsletter a couple of weeks ago, and still others will be from people who have been getting my marketing materials for a six months or even longer, sometimes as long as two years.

When Do People Buy?

Prospects buy from you when they know you exist, know which problems you solve, feel confident in your products or services and understand their value, and, most importantly, when they want to do something about their situation or are ready to solve a problem. Prospects looking for an immediate solution may buy your $149 product or $5000 service today, but most won't want to purchase it until next month or next year.

Increasing Profits

You need a marketing strategy that helps you increase immediate, short-term and long-term sales.

Does your current marketing strategy do this? Does it prompt people to buy from you the first time they visit your web site or call you, make a purchase a few weeks later and in some cases buy from you years after their first contact?

Would you like to improve your immediate, short-term and long-term sales? Below are marketing strategies you can use to accomplish this.

Making Immediate Sales

You want a prospect reading your marketing materials for the first time to immediately see you as an expert and understand the value of your products and services. Don't make the mistake of thinking the best way to do this is to describe products and services, credentials or list clients.

Introduce yourself with a marketing message that describes how you help your clients, phrased in terms of their concerns, not yours. Follow this with a few testimonials from clients that focus on the results you